ISSN (Online) 2393-8021

IARJSET ISSN (Print) 2394-1588

International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology

AGNI-PANKH 16
Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology, Yavatmal
Vol. 4, Special Issue 3, January 2017

Concept of Heijunka
Akshay M. Ramekar1, Vivek D. Muneshwar2, Ajinkya S. Kute3, Ashish M. Choube4
Student, Mechanical Engineering, JDIET, Yavatmal, India 1, 2, 3
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering J.D.I.E.T, Yavatmal, India4

Abstract: Production leveling is a new concept in the industries. Day by day the production is decreasing so we have to
implement new techniques in production system. The heijunka is new concept for production leveling. It is a technique
for reducing the Unevenness which in turn reduces waste. The goal is to produce intermediate goods at a constant rate
so that further processing may also be carried out at a constant and predictable rate. Where demand is constant,
production leveling is easy, but where customer demand fluctuates, two approaches have been adopted demand
leveling and production leveling through flexible production. To prevent fluctuations in production, even in outside
affiliates, it is important to minimize fluctuation in the final assembly line. The final assembly line should never
assemble the same automobile model in a batch. Instead, for the level production, assembling a mix of models in each
batch and the batches are made as small as possible. The lean manufacturing is also use to increase production rate by
eliminating the waste. also takes into account waste created through overburden and waste created through unevenness
in workloads. In lean manufacturing the inventory get reduces also the space consumption reduces by the reducing the
inventory. Large corporations use production leveling to help them trim expenses in a variety of ways, many of which
benefit companies that produce thousands of items or large-ticket products. Small business owners can also benefit
from a more steady production flow in ways that not only reduce costs, but also improve quality and customer
satisfaction. Understanding the benefits of level production manufacturing can help you assess your operations and
improve your processes.

Keywords: Heijunka, demand fluctuation, batch, inventory.

I. INTRODUCTION II. PRODUCTION LEVELING

Heijunka, also known as production smoothing or
Production leveling is a technique for reducing the
Unevenness which in turn reduces waste. It was vital to
the development of production efficiency in the lean
manufacturing. The goal is to produce intermediate goods
at a constant rate so that further processing may also be
carried out at a constant and predictable rate.
Heijunka is defined as “The distribution of production
volume and mix evenly over time. Heijunka converts
uneven Customer Pull into even and predictable
manufacturing process. Heijunka is generally used in
combination with other key Lean principles to stabilize
value flow. Heijunka is a core concept that helps bring
stability to a manufacturing process.
To prevent fluctuations in production, even in outside
affiliates, it is important to minimize fluctuation in the
final assembly line. Our final assembly line never
assembles the same automobile model in a batch. Instead,
they level production by assembling a mix of models in
each batch and the batches are made as small as possible.
The "flow"(or smoothness) based approach aims to
achieve JIT (Just in Time), by removing the variation
caused by work scheduling and thereby provide a driver,
rationale or target and priorities for implementation, using
a variety of techniques. The efforts to achieve JIT exposes
many quality problems that are hidden by buffer stocks; by
forcing smooth flow of only value-adding steps, these
problems become visible and must be dealt with explicitly.
Heijunka, also known as production smoothing or
Production leveling is a technique for reducing the
Unevenness which in turn reduces waste. It was vital to
the development of production efficiency in the lean
manufacturing. The goal is to produce intermediate goods
at a constant rate so that further processing may also be
carried out at a constant and predictable rate.
Where demand is constant, production leveling is easy, but
where customer demand fluctuates, two approaches have
been adopted: demand levelling and production levelling
through flexible production.
Many companies today are working toward the ultimate
lean goal of continuous or one-piece flow. They want to be
able to make just what the customer wants when they want
it. Instead, what we often see is a “hurry up, then slow
down” build-to-order approach. Customers’ orders vary
from sending them home the next due to light orders. This
environment can also create large amounts of inventory,
hidden problems and poorer quality. What many
organizations fail to do is the difficult process of creating a
true balanced lean workflow. This is the Toyota concept of
heijunka, leveling out the work schedule.
Heijunka is the leveling of production by both volume and
product mix. This system does not build products
according to the actual flow of customer orders. Heijunka
takes the total volume of orders in a period and levels
them out so the same amount and mix are being made each
day. In a true build-to-order system, you build products A

Copyright to IARJSET DOI 10.17148/IARJSET 219

 ISSN (Online) 2393-8021
IARJSET ISSN (Print) 2394-1588

International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology

AGNI-PANKH 16
Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology, Yavatmal
Vol. 4, Special Issue 3, January 2017

and B in the production sequence of customer orders (e.g., the demand amplification induced variability of ordering
A, A, B, A, B, B, B, A …). patterns. Demand levelling does not include influencing
To achieve the benefits of continuous flow, companies activities designed to clear existing stock.
must level out the workload. Heijunka will eliminate waste
by leveling your product volume and mix, but most III. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL
importantly, will level out the demand on your people, PRODUCTION AND LEVELED PRODUCTION
equipment and suppliers. Without leveling, waste will
increase as people are driven to work like mad and then A traditional production process focuses on manufacturing
stop and wait, just like the hare. in large-sized lots. The idea is to manufacture the
maximum number of products in one lot. A lean
A. LEVELING BY VOLUME production process focuses on producing as the latest
If for a family of products that use the same production market demand.
process, there is a demand that varies between 800 and
1,200 units then it might seem a good idea to produce the This typical unleveled method creates four problems:
amount ordered. Toyota's view is that production systems  Customers usually do not buy products predictably. If
that vary in the required output suffer the customer decides to buy the large product early in
from mura and muri with capacity being 'forced' in some the week the plant is in trouble.
periods. So their approach is to manufacture at the long-  The risk of unsold goods that must be kept in
term average demand and carry an inventory proportional inventory.
to the variability of demand, stability of the production  The use of resources is unbalanced.
process and the frequency of shipments. So for our case of  There is an uneven demand on upstream processes.
800-1,200 UNITS, if the production process were 100% By reducing the changeover time and employing other
reliable and the shipments once a week, then the lean methods, the plant is able to build the products in
production would be with minimum standard inventory of any order it wants to on its mixed-model assembly line.
200 at the start of the week and 1,200 at the point of
shipment. The advantage of carrying this inventory is that The four benefits of leveling the schedule are:
it can smooth production throughout the plant and  Flexibility to make what the customer wants when they
therefore reduce process inventories and simplify want it.
operations which reduces costs.  Reduced risk of unsold goods.
 Balanced use of labor and machines.
B. LEVELING BY PRODUCT
Most value streams produce a mix of products and
Smoothed demand on the upstream processes and
therefore face a choice of production mix and sequence. It
suppliers
is here that the discussions on economic order
quantities take place and have been dominated
by changeover times and the inventory this requires.
Toyota's approach resulted in a different discussion where
it reduced the time and cost of changeovers so that smaller
and smaller batches were not prohibitive and lost
production time and quality costs were not significant.
This meant that the demand for components could be
leveled for the upstream sub-processes and therefore lead
time and total inventories reduced along the entire value
stream. To simplify leveling of products with different
demand levels a related visual scheduling board known as
a heijunka box is often used in achieving these heijunka
style efficiencies. Other production leveling techniques
based on this thinking have also been developed. Once
leveling by product is achieved then there is one more
leveling phase, that of "Just in Sequence" where leveling
occurs at the lowest level of product production.

C. DEMAND LEVELING
Demand leveling is the deliberate influencing of demand
itself or the demand processes to deliver a more
predictable pattern of customer demand. Some of this
influencing is by manipulating the product offering, some
by influencing the ordering process and some by revealing Fig.1. Traditional Method

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 ISSN (Online) 2393-8021
IARJSET ISSN (Print) 2394-1588

International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology

AGNI-PANKH 16
Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology, Yavatmal
Vol. 4, Special Issue 3, January 2017

IV. THE NEED OF HEIJUNKA

There are a number of reasons for implementing Heijunka:

 Product Leveling
 large batches of the same product may reduce set-up
times and changeovers, but usually result in:
 long lead times
 swelling inventories
 greater opportunities for defects.
 excessive idle time and/or overtime.

An even of products is critical to avoiding these impacts

 Production Leveling
 Remember the “Beer Game”? Fluctuations in demand
(Boller or “Bullwhip” Effect) are often highly
amplified and delayed throughout the supply chain.
Fig.2 Leveled Production  Responding to fluctuating customer demand can result
in increased overtime or idle time.
Let us take an example of production leveling for  Variable production schedules can be stressful =
production of twelve (12) week Unhappy workers.
 more level production volume eases these
WEEKLY complications
LEVELED
WEEK TOTAL PRODUCTIO V. BENEFITS OF HEIJUNKA
DEMAN N
DS (4-WEEK Specific advantages to be derived from this type of system
1 4878 LEVELING) are much more than just about reducing waste. The most
specific advantage has to be the flexibility that this system
2 3672
17136 ÷ 4 = 4329 invokes within the company, ensuring that the customer
3 4536 4329
4329 can get exactly what they want, at a specific time that they
4 4230 4329 need it. This ensures that the customer is kept satisfied and
5 3618 4329 therefore ensures the longer-term financial stability of the
6 4788 4217 company. Due to the fact that there is no over or indeed
7 4464 4217 under production, there is no risk that such a surplus of
8 3996 16866 ÷ 4 = 4217 items will be made that will never be sold, so general
9 3546 4217 4217 efficiency is promoted.
10 4356 4082
11 4536 4082 Therefore, the correct implementation of the system
12 3888 4082 provides predictability by leveling demand, flexibility by
4082 decreasing changeover time and stability by averaging
16326 ÷ 4 = 4082 production volume and type over the long term.

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 ISSN (Online) 2393-8021
IARJSET ISSN (Print) 2394-1588

International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology

AGNI-PANKH 16
Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology, Yavatmal
Vol. 4, Special Issue 3, January 2017

VI. IMPLEMENTATION OFHEIJUNKA  Over Processing (resulting from poor tool or product
design creating activity)
One way to achieve leveled production is by implementing  Defects (the effort involved in inspecting for and fixing
takt time, which means basing the production rate on an defects)
estimate of how many units per units of time must be
processed at each work center in order to meet market For lean production this seven waste we have to control by
demand. which the production.
Takt time sets the pace of production to match the rate of
customer demand, and becomes the heartbeat of any lean
production system. As the "pacemaker" of a lean system,
takt time is essential to the smooth flow of work through
production cells, and is a key factor in planning and
scheduling work.
By using takt time, production can be leveled to either a
set level or to between a minimum and maximum level.
These levels can be set in a computer system for any date
and any period length, from a day upwards. Leveled
production results in a steady demand pattern, which
ensures a predictable, smooth schedule and avoids
capacity bottlenecks. Fig. 3 Lean Manufacturing.
This simplifies planning and control (since every day in
the plan within the leveled period is basically the same),
creates stability in production, and gives operators a far VIII. TWO BIN SYSTEM
better understanding of what they have to do each day and The 2 bin system is designed to prevent the production
how they are performing against goals and targets. It also line of running out of components, from emptying a box
makes life easier for upstream suppliers who can be passed until the next cycle of supply.
stable schedules.

VII. CONCEPT OF LEAN MANUFACTURING

Lean manufacturing or lean production, often simply

"lean", is a systematic method for the elimination of waste
within a manufacturing system. Lean also takes into
account waste created through overburden and waste
created through unevenness in workloads. Working from
the perspective of the client who consumes a product or
service, "value" is any action or process that a customer
would be willing to pay for.
Essentially, lean is centered on making obvious what adds
value by reducing everything else. For the lean
manufacturing the important thing is to reduce the waste to
IX. JUST IN TIME MANUFACTURING
improve overall customer value, but there are varying
perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady
Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, also known as just-in-
growth of production, from a small company to the world's
time production is a methodology aimed primarily at
largest automaker, has focused attention on how to achieve
reducing flow times within production as well as response
this success.
times from suppliers and to customers.
The original seven muda are:  Improved overall productivity and elimination of
waste.
 Transport (moving products that are not actually  Cost-effective production and delivery of only the
required to perform the processing) necessary quantity of parts at the right quality, at the
 Inventory (all components, work in process, and right time and place, while using a minimum amount of
finished product not being processed) facilities, equipment, materials and human resources.
 Motion (people or equipment moving or walking more  JIT is dependent on the balance between the supplier’s
than is required to perform the processing) flexibility and the user’s flexibility.
 Waiting (waiting for the next production step,  JIT is accomplished through the application of
interruptions of production during shift change) elements that require total employee involvement and
 Overproduction (production ahead of demand) teamwork.

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 ISSN (Online) 2393-8021
IARJSET ISSN (Print) 2394-1588

International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology

AGNI-PANKH 16
Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology, Yavatmal
Vol. 4, Special Issue 3, January 2017

 Delivering smaller quantities more often can reduce

inventory levels.

X. CONCLSION

Implementation of concept of heijunka is the result in

improved overall productivity and elimination of waste,
cost-effective production and delivery of only the
necessary quantity of part at right quality, at the right time
and place, while using a minimum amount of facilities,
equipment, materials and human resources, reduce
inventory levels, also human efforts and time. In every
industry safety is big factor which is cover by the less
inventory and single flow method. The production is
levelled by implementing the concept of heijunka.

REFERENCES

[1] The Machine that changed the World, Womack, Jones and Roos,
Macmillan Publishing, p183, ISBN 0-89256-350-8
[2] Holweg, Matthias (2007). "The genealogy of lean
production". Journal of Operations Management 25 (2): 420–
437. doi:10.1016/j.jom.2006.04.001.
[3] Krafcik, John F. (1988). "Triumph of the lean production
system". Sloan Management Review 30 (1): 41–52.
[4] Shingo, Shigeo. 1985. A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED
System. Stamford, Ct.: Productivity Press.
[5] Barkman, William E. 1989. In-Process Quality Control for
Manufacturing. Boca Raton, Fl.: CRC Press.

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